Animal poke



.."I. "H. BEARD Feb. 8, 1949.

ANIMAL PokE I Inventor Q7 71 HBEARD v and 406% Weave; 12m

Timed June 13, 1945 Patented Feb. 8, 1949 STATES or 2 ,461,255

ANIMAL BOKE' 10. 1. 1; H; B a d. Rust n', v Applicationlunafi, l945gSeriaili'No. 599.1 99

Thisinvention relates, to new and useful improvements in pokes for, animals, andparticu- -'v Ka ly that t p if-poke embodying hook members. adapted; toen agethe wires, of a fenceto prevent; the animal from passing between orcrawling under said wires.

The Primary object of the present invention is to provide an animal poke, of'the above kindwhichis highly efficient in use and whichis of om aratively simple and. durable construction.

Another. object; of the invention is to provide an animal poke including a, strap metalyoke, of substantially inverted U-shape and adapted, to pass; about. the neckv oi the animal, the lower endsof the, legs of the yoke being bent to form forwardly facing hooks. to engage the, fencewires.

A further object of the invention is to provide a poke of the above characterincluding a blocklike plate pivotally suspendedbetween the lower end portions of the legs of theyokejor forward or rearward swinging movement about a transverse horizontal axis; whereby to accommodate various positions which the animal may assume a d to. aint n e yok inaub tisus upright position.

A.v still further object of,the invention is;to provide apoke of theabove character in 'which apivot. bolt connects the legsofythe yokeand haspthe plate pivotally suspendedtherefrorn, in combination with a central; hookpmem ber; pivotally suspended from the pivot belt of the plate and extending downwardly in front of and below the latter, as well as below the hook members on the ends of the legs of the yoke so as to effectively engage the fence wires even though they may occur lower than the hook members on the ends of the yoke legs.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings: 7

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an animal poke constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary central vertical section taken substantially on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the pivoted plate.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the Present a Claims. (o1. 119.14.0.)

animal; poke consists; of a strapmetal: yoke; 5 on inverted substantially Ll-shapese that its; upper; portion, substantially con-forms to the contour: of the; animals. neck about; which thfiYQkQgiSs placed. As; arcuate neckjpadwmember 6} snugly,

contacts and; is riveted or otherwise securedto the; underside of: the central por-tionpof thezy ke. this eck pad member; is; of; rounded enemy/fed. eross seection'. as. shown Figure 5 so, that; the animelwill not be injured-bysharp cernerszqr; angles coming inpontactwithhis neck. Riveted tar-otherwise securedupon the yoke member; intermediate the ends of the padmernber 52.13 a;v zrshaped sheetymeta-l; member: 1. whose pper flan e or endportion projects forwardly inn-form. an upper fencewire engaging hook forthe poke-.- Tnefrce end ofthe. lower fiangeofthe. member: leis directed; downwardlyat. 8-; to.-engage;the,,reae; edge ot-theyoke so as to prevent turningpi pm mb l: bou th X sef:- he:1rive.t;.which secures it to;the-yoke 5-.

The lower endportionsof thelegsojofyokeibs aregtwisteda-t right angles as: at EbandieX-tend downwardly in parallel: relation, the. lower terms:

' nab. portions. thereef' being,- bentforwardly upwardlyand; declined laterally towardajeach; othen to provide-hook members to; for engaging; fence wires. Asshown in Figure. the lower: end portions of the legs of yoke 5:are. preferably inclined forwardly. A horizontal elongatedi bolt 11;;elgtendsthr0ugh; alined openings; l.la;in and connects the legs of the yoke 5 immediately above the points where they are twisted at 9, the bolt being removably held in place by means of nuts l2 threaded on one end thereof and having a lock washer l3 interposed therebetween. Pivotally suspended upon the bolt H between the lower end portions of the legs of yoke 5 is a relatively thick or block-like plate l4 having a concave recess l5 and its upper edge to conform with the underneath portion of the animals neck. The plate [4 is relatively heavy and acts to maintain the yoke 5 in a substantially vertical position. It also is allowed to swing freely either forwardly or rearwardly on the bolt H to permit freedom of movement of the. animal and to accommodate the various positions which the animal may assume. When the plate I4 is in its normal vertical position as shown in Figure 2,

about this exposed portion of bolt ll so as to be pivotally suspended from the latter, said hook member I! extending forwardly and downwardly in front of the plate l4 and terminating below mals neck and the leg or the yoke referred to is again engaged with the bolt H and secured thereon by replacement of the nuts 12 and washer 13. In use, one or more of the hooks l and I8 and that afforded by the member 'I will engage a wire or wires of the fence should the animal attempt to pass between or under said wires. The animal is thus efiectively prevented from passing through the fence without actual contact of the animal's body or legs with the fence wire. Ultimately, the animal will be discouraged from attempting to passthrough the fence by reason of having had such attempts repeatedly foiled'by the yoke; In practice, the yoke will of course be made of comparatively thick and stiff strap metal which will effectively resist bending strains under ordinary conditions of use, and this is also true with respect to the hook member 11. A series of the openings dis-provided in each leg of yoke for selective reception of bolt I I, so that the yoke may be adjusted to the size of the animals neck. Also, the plate I l tapers smaller in width upwardly so that the legs of yoke 5 may be drawn comparatively closer to each other at the top of said plate to best conform to the animal's neck. This also provides for disposition of the portions of the legs of the yoke below the bolt H in downwardly diverging relation. The hooks it are inclined toward each other to minimize the chances of the animal getting his hind legs caught by said hooks when scratching his head or ears. The device is comparatively simple and durable, and it may be readily and economically manufactured, as well as easily placed in use. Minor changes may be made and details of construction illustrated and described, such as fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

Iclaim:

1. An animal poke comprising a strap metal yoke of inverted substantially U-shape, the upper portion of the yoke being shaped to substantially conform to the contour of the animals neck, the lower end portions of the yoke legs being inclined forwardly, the lower ends of the legs of said yoke terminating in forwardly and upwardly extending hooks declined laterally toward each other, a plate disposed between the lower end portions of the yoke legs, a horizontal bolt extending through the legs of the yoke, said plate being pivotally suspended from said bolt, said plate having a concave recess in the upper edge thereof to fit about the underside of the animal's neck and being provided with a transverse groove in the upper edge thereof midway between the sides of the same to expose the intermediate portion of the bolt, and a hook member pivotally suspended on said exposed portion of the bolt and extendin downwardly in front of and below the plate.

2. An animal poke comprising a strap metal yoke of inverted substantially U-shape, the upper portion of the yoke being shaped to substantially conform to the contour of the animal's neck, the lower end portions of the yoke legs being inclined forwardly, the lower ends of the legs of said yoke terminating in forwardly and upwardly extending hooks declined laterally toward each other,

a plate pivotally mounted between the lower end portions of the yoke legs, an arcuate pad member secured to the under side of the intermediate portion of the yoke, said pad member being of upwardly curved form in transverse section, and a Z-shaped member secured upon the yoke intermediate the ends of the pad member and having a forwardly facing flange constituting a fence wire engaging hook member.

JOHN H. BE

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 395,392 Higgins Jan. 1, 1889 432,503 Alford July 22, 1890 506,603 McWilliams Oct. 10, 1893 591,337 Fisher Oct. 5, 1897 1,245,116 McGill Oct. 30, 1917 1,399,204 Forsythe Dec. 6, 1921 1,613,109 Jackson Jan. 4, 1927 

